The international experience-sharing meeting, “Sustainable Development of National School Feeding Programmes in the Global and Regional Context,” opened in Yerevan on May 18. The following day, a high-level delegation visited Armenian schools to see the Programme in practice: how school canteens operate, what educational and agricultural initiatives are developing around them, and how schools, parents, and local communities work together to make school meals more sustainable, nutritious, and relevant to children’s everyday lives.
The delegation included Araksia Svajyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia; Ruzanna Harutyunyan, Chief Specialist of the Programme Development and Implementation Division of the General Education Department; Leila Meliouh, WFP Representative and Country Director in Armenia; representatives of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Armenia, Yekaterina Ivanova and Roman Sayko; Vladimir Chernigov, President of the Social and Industrial Foodservice Institute (SIFI); Daniel Balaban, Director and Representative of the WFP Centre of Excellence Against Hunger in Brazil; as well as senior representatives from the Republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
New school, new canteen, new culture
The first stop on the route was Abovyan Basic School No. 2. The guests were welcomed in a newly constructed school building — spacious, modern, and strikingly different from the traditional image of school infrastructure.
As headmaster Artur Tashchyan said, 780 students receive hot school meals there every day. According to him, the school canteen has become much more than simply a place children visit according to schedule. Over time, it has helped foster a new culture, one built on trust in school meals, interest in how food is prepared, and a growing understanding of why healthy eating matters.
“When we first introduced hot meals, it was not easy for children to adapt to the new school menu or feel ready to try unfamiliar dishes. However, over time, they realised that the food was not only healthy, but also delicious. And that is truly the case, because our cooks prepare every meal with great responsibility, care, and enthusiasm,” Mr. Tashchyan said.
Since January this year, between 80 and 130 primary school children, depending on the month, have also been staying for extended-day classes and receiving hot meals at school.
Deputy Minister Araksia Svajyan noted that Abovyan Basic School No. 2 is one of the largest schools in the country: “Before the reconstruction, the school operated in two shifts, and organising school meals was quite a challenge.”
Today, the situation has changed significantly. Modern equipment allows the school to manage the preparation and delivery of meals in a completely new way. All products delivered to the canteen undergo strict quality control and comply with state-established standards. The kitchen facilities include a sufficient number of washing stations as well as a separate storage room for fruits and vegetables.
Representatives from Tajikistan paid particular attention to the canteen conditions, which they described as being of a very high standard. They were equally impressed by the menu — varied, balanced, and carefully designed to meet children’s nutritional needs.
However, a renovated school is about much more than the canteen alone. The building is equipped with three elevators, including one designed for children with mobility impairments. It also features classrooms for digital technologies, biology, chess, and visual arts, a well-stocked library, and a comfortable assembly hall with modern sound equipment. The hall regularly hosts school festivals, while students who play musical instruments perform there every Friday.
The school also includes a modern indoor sports hall and an outdoor football field where inter-class tournaments are held. According to Mr. Tashchyan, the school staff strives to ensure that every day a child spends at school is meaningful, engaging, and beneficial.
Strawberries, greenhouse and solar energy
The next stop was Victor Hambardzumyan Basic School No. 10 in Abovyan. The visit began with music, as students welcomed the guests with the national anthem of the Republic of Armenia, traditional songs, and dances.
The delegation was greeted by the school headmaster, Anahit Stepanyan. She said that out of the school’s 2,000 students, 900 receive hot meals through the School Feeding Programme.
Particular attention was drawn to the school’s 500 m² greenhouse. More than just a place for growing plants, the greenhouse has become a real educational laboratory for children. Through hands-on experience, children learn how modern technologies can help produce high-quality, healthy, and organic products.
The greenhouse combines two cultivation methods. One section follows a conventional growing approach, while the other uses hydroponic technology. Strawberries are grown in special bags filled with coconut fibre substrate. The greenhouse was established at the school five years ago with support from the United Nations World Food Programme.
Members of the school’s Innovative Greenhouse club presented the greenhouse to the guests. The children explained how hydroponic technology differs from traditional cultivation methods and demonstrated how modern agricultural solutions can be integrated into school education in practice.
During the visit, the students also organised a live online connection with their peers from Gegharkunik Village Secondary School, who presented their own greenhouse remotely. In this way, the school initiative turned into an exchange of experience between children.
Мrs. Stepanyan noted that since the greenhouse and the specialised school club were introduced, many students have started considering careers in innovative agriculture. For them, it is no longer an abstract profession described in textbooks, but something tangible, engaging, and accessible through practical experience.
The school also operates a 60 kW solar power station, which helps reduce the costs associated with maintaining the greenhouse and preparing meals in the school canteen.
Karen Hunanyan, Head of the Education, Culture and Sports Department of the Kotayk Marz Administration, highly praised the school’s agricultural achievements and emphasised their importance for developing the country’s agricultural potential: “May this good initiative — the fruits of which we saw and tasted today — continue to grow stronger and bring even greater benefit.”
Gandzak: а school where garden feeds, teaches, and unites people
The delegation then travelled to Secondary School No. 2 in the village of Gandzak. Here, the guests received an especially warm welcome with the traditional offering of bread and salt, accompanied by the sounds of the dhol drum and national dances. The students also performed the Healthy Lifestyle Anthem, a song created as part of the School Feeding Programme.
Welcoming the guests, Maria Muradyan, Programme Officer at the United Nations World Food Programme, stressed that the School Feeding Programme became possible through the joint efforts of the government, partners, communities, schools, and parents.
“The Programme has long become much more than just the provision of meals. It helps shape behavior and allows children to learn through food. We are also working to include higher-grade students in the programme, and together with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, we have developed a cyclical model that will help partially reduce the burden on public expenditure,” she said.
She also noted that Secondary School No. 2 in Gandzak became the central school of the School Feeding Transformation project. It was here that an intensive orchard was established, which today serves as a source of produce and an important part of the educational process.
School headmaster Anush Barseghyan said that children have been receiving hot meals at the school since 2020. Over the past six years, the school canteen has become part of a broader educational environment. Around the School Feeding Programme, various projects have gradually emerged, helping children learn about work, environmental care, and responsibility.
With support from the Gegharkunik Marz Administration, the United Nations World Food Programme, and the parent community, 600 trees were planted on a 2,000 m² plot next to the school. The orchard was established in spring and produced its first harvest by autumn.
Once the school had its own orchard, a new community life quickly grew around it. The Innovative Garden club was launched, where children study modern approaches to plant cultivation. Alongside it, the Healthy Lifestyle club continues to promote health, nutrition, and mindful habits.
The school garden has brought together children and adults. An informal women’s group operates at the school, where women process the harvest and make dried fruits and vegetables, including blackberries, raspberries, pears, apples, and carrots. At one point, proceeds from the sale of locally grown products were used to purchase tropical fruits, which were also dried and turned into finished products.
The income from dried fruit sales is reinvested into school life: it supports the School Feeding Programme, assists socially vulnerable families, and helps meet classroom needs.
Another school initiative is called Our Herbs. Children collect herbs, prepare herbal teas, sell them, and use the proceeds to fund educational excursions. In this way, children learn not only how to care for plants, but also how to plan, calculate, make decisions, and see the results of their work.
During the visit, the guests had an opportunity to participate in school life. Together with students and parents, they prepared salads, sliced fruits, and placed them into a food dehydrator. Afterwards, the delegation joined the students for a shared school lunch.
The gathering then continued in the school garden. Primary school children performed a harvest-themed presentation, and the headmaster shared that for the past seven years, children have been growing vegetables and herbs in the school’s mini-garden themselves. Everything harvested is sent directly to the school canteen.
The guests sowed seeds together with the children and then visited the intensive orchard. As a farewell gesture, the delegation received handmade gifts prepared by children and parents: fragrant herbal teas, dried fruits, and lavash baked at the school.
More than a school meal
This visit clearly demonstrated that in Armenia, school feeding has long gone far beyond the idea of simply providing a hot meal. Of course, menus, food quality, and modern equipment all matter. However, in the schools visited by the delegation, school meals have become part of a broader story, one about children’s health, practical education, agriculture, parental involvement, community support, and student initiative.
In one school, a modern canteen helps children discover the taste and value of healthy food. In another, a greenhouse turns lessons into hands-on learning and introduces students to innovative agricultural practices. In the third, the orchard, herbs, dried fruits, and school kitchen have become part of a wider educational process where children develop practical skills, learn responsibility, and gain their first lessons in financial literacy.
The experience of the schools in Kotayk and Gegharkunik demonstrates that school feeding can be far more than a daily serving of nutritious food. It can bring together schools, families, and communities around the child, while creating new opportunities for learning, support, and collective development.
This is precisely why Armenia’s experience matters not only for the future of the National School Feeding Programme. It is becoming a valuable example for other countries, an example of how an ordinary school meal can grow into a sustainable system of care, education, and cooperation.
The delegation included Araksia Svajyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia; Ruzanna Harutyunyan, Chief Specialist of the Programme Development and Implementation Division of the General Education Department; Leila Meliouh, WFP Representative and Country Director in Armenia; representatives of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Armenia, Yekaterina Ivanova and Roman Sayko; Vladimir Chernigov, President of the Social and Industrial Foodservice Institute (SIFI); Daniel Balaban, Director and Representative of the WFP Centre of Excellence Against Hunger in Brazil; as well as senior representatives from the Republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
New school, new canteen, new culture
The first stop on the route was Abovyan Basic School No. 2. The guests were welcomed in a newly constructed school building — spacious, modern, and strikingly different from the traditional image of school infrastructure.
As headmaster Artur Tashchyan said, 780 students receive hot school meals there every day. According to him, the school canteen has become much more than simply a place children visit according to schedule. Over time, it has helped foster a new culture, one built on trust in school meals, interest in how food is prepared, and a growing understanding of why healthy eating matters.
“When we first introduced hot meals, it was not easy for children to adapt to the new school menu or feel ready to try unfamiliar dishes. However, over time, they realised that the food was not only healthy, but also delicious. And that is truly the case, because our cooks prepare every meal with great responsibility, care, and enthusiasm,” Mr. Tashchyan said.
Since January this year, between 80 and 130 primary school children, depending on the month, have also been staying for extended-day classes and receiving hot meals at school.
Deputy Minister Araksia Svajyan noted that Abovyan Basic School No. 2 is one of the largest schools in the country: “Before the reconstruction, the school operated in two shifts, and organising school meals was quite a challenge.”
Today, the situation has changed significantly. Modern equipment allows the school to manage the preparation and delivery of meals in a completely new way. All products delivered to the canteen undergo strict quality control and comply with state-established standards. The kitchen facilities include a sufficient number of washing stations as well as a separate storage room for fruits and vegetables.
Representatives from Tajikistan paid particular attention to the canteen conditions, which they described as being of a very high standard. They were equally impressed by the menu — varied, balanced, and carefully designed to meet children’s nutritional needs.
However, a renovated school is about much more than the canteen alone. The building is equipped with three elevators, including one designed for children with mobility impairments. It also features classrooms for digital technologies, biology, chess, and visual arts, a well-stocked library, and a comfortable assembly hall with modern sound equipment. The hall regularly hosts school festivals, while students who play musical instruments perform there every Friday.
The school also includes a modern indoor sports hall and an outdoor football field where inter-class tournaments are held. According to Mr. Tashchyan, the school staff strives to ensure that every day a child spends at school is meaningful, engaging, and beneficial.
Strawberries, greenhouse and solar energy
The next stop was Victor Hambardzumyan Basic School No. 10 in Abovyan. The visit began with music, as students welcomed the guests with the national anthem of the Republic of Armenia, traditional songs, and dances.
The delegation was greeted by the school headmaster, Anahit Stepanyan. She said that out of the school’s 2,000 students, 900 receive hot meals through the School Feeding Programme.
Particular attention was drawn to the school’s 500 m² greenhouse. More than just a place for growing plants, the greenhouse has become a real educational laboratory for children. Through hands-on experience, children learn how modern technologies can help produce high-quality, healthy, and organic products.
The greenhouse combines two cultivation methods. One section follows a conventional growing approach, while the other uses hydroponic technology. Strawberries are grown in special bags filled with coconut fibre substrate. The greenhouse was established at the school five years ago with support from the United Nations World Food Programme.
Members of the school’s Innovative Greenhouse club presented the greenhouse to the guests. The children explained how hydroponic technology differs from traditional cultivation methods and demonstrated how modern agricultural solutions can be integrated into school education in practice.
During the visit, the students also organised a live online connection with their peers from Gegharkunik Village Secondary School, who presented their own greenhouse remotely. In this way, the school initiative turned into an exchange of experience between children.
Мrs. Stepanyan noted that since the greenhouse and the specialised school club were introduced, many students have started considering careers in innovative agriculture. For them, it is no longer an abstract profession described in textbooks, but something tangible, engaging, and accessible through practical experience.
The school also operates a 60 kW solar power station, which helps reduce the costs associated with maintaining the greenhouse and preparing meals in the school canteen.
Karen Hunanyan, Head of the Education, Culture and Sports Department of the Kotayk Marz Administration, highly praised the school’s agricultural achievements and emphasised their importance for developing the country’s agricultural potential: “May this good initiative — the fruits of which we saw and tasted today — continue to grow stronger and bring even greater benefit.”
Gandzak: а school where garden feeds, teaches, and unites people
The delegation then travelled to Secondary School No. 2 in the village of Gandzak. Here, the guests received an especially warm welcome with the traditional offering of bread and salt, accompanied by the sounds of the dhol drum and national dances. The students also performed the Healthy Lifestyle Anthem, a song created as part of the School Feeding Programme.
Welcoming the guests, Maria Muradyan, Programme Officer at the United Nations World Food Programme, stressed that the School Feeding Programme became possible through the joint efforts of the government, partners, communities, schools, and parents.
“The Programme has long become much more than just the provision of meals. It helps shape behavior and allows children to learn through food. We are also working to include higher-grade students in the programme, and together with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, we have developed a cyclical model that will help partially reduce the burden on public expenditure,” she said.
She also noted that Secondary School No. 2 in Gandzak became the central school of the School Feeding Transformation project. It was here that an intensive orchard was established, which today serves as a source of produce and an important part of the educational process.
School headmaster Anush Barseghyan said that children have been receiving hot meals at the school since 2020. Over the past six years, the school canteen has become part of a broader educational environment. Around the School Feeding Programme, various projects have gradually emerged, helping children learn about work, environmental care, and responsibility.
With support from the Gegharkunik Marz Administration, the United Nations World Food Programme, and the parent community, 600 trees were planted on a 2,000 m² plot next to the school. The orchard was established in spring and produced its first harvest by autumn.
Once the school had its own orchard, a new community life quickly grew around it. The Innovative Garden club was launched, where children study modern approaches to plant cultivation. Alongside it, the Healthy Lifestyle club continues to promote health, nutrition, and mindful habits.
The school garden has brought together children and adults. An informal women’s group operates at the school, where women process the harvest and make dried fruits and vegetables, including blackberries, raspberries, pears, apples, and carrots. At one point, proceeds from the sale of locally grown products were used to purchase tropical fruits, which were also dried and turned into finished products.
The income from dried fruit sales is reinvested into school life: it supports the School Feeding Programme, assists socially vulnerable families, and helps meet classroom needs.
Another school initiative is called Our Herbs. Children collect herbs, prepare herbal teas, sell them, and use the proceeds to fund educational excursions. In this way, children learn not only how to care for plants, but also how to plan, calculate, make decisions, and see the results of their work.
During the visit, the guests had an opportunity to participate in school life. Together with students and parents, they prepared salads, sliced fruits, and placed them into a food dehydrator. Afterwards, the delegation joined the students for a shared school lunch.
The gathering then continued in the school garden. Primary school children performed a harvest-themed presentation, and the headmaster shared that for the past seven years, children have been growing vegetables and herbs in the school’s mini-garden themselves. Everything harvested is sent directly to the school canteen.
The guests sowed seeds together with the children and then visited the intensive orchard. As a farewell gesture, the delegation received handmade gifts prepared by children and parents: fragrant herbal teas, dried fruits, and lavash baked at the school.
More than a school meal
This visit clearly demonstrated that in Armenia, school feeding has long gone far beyond the idea of simply providing a hot meal. Of course, menus, food quality, and modern equipment all matter. However, in the schools visited by the delegation, school meals have become part of a broader story, one about children’s health, practical education, agriculture, parental involvement, community support, and student initiative.
In one school, a modern canteen helps children discover the taste and value of healthy food. In another, a greenhouse turns lessons into hands-on learning and introduces students to innovative agricultural practices. In the third, the orchard, herbs, dried fruits, and school kitchen have become part of a wider educational process where children develop practical skills, learn responsibility, and gain their first lessons in financial literacy.
The experience of the schools in Kotayk and Gegharkunik demonstrates that school feeding can be far more than a daily serving of nutritious food. It can bring together schools, families, and communities around the child, while creating new opportunities for learning, support, and collective development.
This is precisely why Armenia’s experience matters not only for the future of the National School Feeding Programme. It is becoming a valuable example for other countries, an example of how an ordinary school meal can grow into a sustainable system of care, education, and cooperation.